Up North with the Hemingways

Spending time "Up North" in Michigan is one of summer's
special delights. The rituals repeat summer after summer - packing,
enduring the unbearably long ride, making friends (and saying goodbye),
enjoying beautiful water, and longing all winter for the next summer.
While much has changed in Michigan over the last 100 years, the
essential elements of the "Up North" experience remain consistent. The
lure of summer vacations is a powerful force for generations of
families. A century ago, the Clarence and Grace Hall-Hemingway family
was one of those who loved summering in northern Michigan. They were in
most ways a very ordinary family for their time but in one way they
were quite unique. Their son, Ernest, would eventually become world
famous, write stories set in northern Michigan and win the Nobel Prize
for Literature in 1954. But when he spent summers in Michigan, Ernest
Miller Hemingway was simply "Ernie," a boy who loved getting away from
home and spending time "Up North". This is the story of his and his
family's Michigan experiences between 1898 and 1921.

The Hemingways

Clarence Edmonds Hemingway was a successful doctor in the
Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, when in 1896 he married Grace
Hall, a talented musician and artist. Dr. Hemingway was a naturalist
and sportsman who enjoyed fishing, hunting and spending time outdoors
while Grace's interests were the arts and Oak Park society. Beginning
with their first born in 1898, the family would eventually include six
children (Marcelline, Ernest, Ursula, Madelaine, Carol, and Leicester).
They all would keep busy with school and community activities from
Labor Day to Memorial Day but the summers were set aside for leisure.
Grace and the children could enjoy long summer get-aways bracketed only
by one school year's end and the beginning of the next but Dr.
Hemingway's busy medical practice would somewhat limit his ability to
be gone for long periods of time. Rather than vacationing at
traditional resorts around Chicago, the Hemingways decided early in
their marriage to instead enjoy the developing opportunities in
Michigan.

Bear Lake

The railroads' arrival in the 1870s changed much in northern
Michigan. With easier access, people from all over the midwest
"discovered" the area and their numbers led to new boarding houses and
resort hotels on many lakes - including Bear Lake, south of Petoskey.
The first residential cottage was built there in 1878 and by the 1890s
new structures dotted the shore. In 1900 the lake's name was changed to
Walloon Lake to keep it from being confused with other Bear Lakes
around Michigan.

In August 1898, Dr. Clarence (often referred to as "Ed") and
Grace Hemingway visited Bear Lake with their infant daughter,
Marcelline. They stayed at a cabin owned by Grace's cousin, Madelaine
Randall Board, on Bear Lake's Wildwood Harbor and were so captivated
that they spent two weeks looking at property to purchase. Finally they
found the perfect spot and bought an acre of land from Henry Bacon, a
local farmer, on a small bay. Returning home to Oak Park in September,
they commissioned the building of a cottage and in August 1899 they
briefly returned to the lake to check on its progress. Staying about a
mile from their property at the Echo Beach Hotel, this was to be six
week old Ernest's first Michigan trip. The following year the family of
four spent their first summer at "Windemere," their new cottage,
beginning a relationship that would last decades.

Are We there Yet?

With the new century, the Hemingways started their annual
tradition of traveling "Up North." Compared to today's trips, it was a
slow and awkward affair beginning with the excited packing of most of
what they would need for a three-month stay. The trunks and boxes were
heavy and awkward -- filled with clothes, personal items, and precious
library books borrowed from the Oak Park Public Library. Their luggage
was first conveyed eight miles to the Chicago River docks and was then
loaded on a steamship such as the Manitou, Missouri or Illinois to travel north with the family along Michigan's coastline. On their first trip in 1898, the Hemingways took the luxurious SS Manitou.
Forty-two feet wide and almost as long as a football field (274 feet),
its top speed was 19.5 miles an hour, making it among the fastest
ships on the lake. But even at this speed, the trip to Harbor Springs
took over a day to complete. Once there, porters transferred the
Hemingway's possessions to the nearby rail depot where a local suburban
train took the family the eleven miles to Petoskey. Hugging Little
Traverse Bay, the train stopped at as many as eleven resorts along the
line. At Petoskey, the Hemingways and their trunks transferred to a
different station and yet another suburban train to Walloon Lake
Village. The village, originally known as "Talcott," gained train
service in 1892 making it possible to reach it and Walloon Lake via
luxury rail coaches from far away cities such as Cincinnati,
Louisville, St. Louis, and Detroit.

Once at Walloon Village, the Hemingways completed their
journey by taking a wood-burning lake steamer such as the two-decked Tourist or the smaller Outing,
directly to their cottage. These steamers made regular trips around
the lake providing a valuable link to the outside world. A white banner
or flag at the dock end (or occasionally a blast from Clarence's Swiss
ram's horn bugle) signaled them to stop at the Hemingways.

One notable exception to the usual travel routine was the 1917
trip. With knowledge of improving roads and a sense of determination,
Dr. Hemingway decided to make the journey in his Model T touring car.
Ernie, Grace and young Leicester accompanied him while the girls went
ahead on the familiar steamship SS Manitou and met the family
at Walloon. Dr. Hemingway's journal and family photos tell the story of
the five-day journey with nights in tents, freshly caught fish fried
for breakfast, terrible roads, and adventure. The 487-mile trip had 100
miles added on for detours and the family carried a shovel to use when
the car became stuck on rutted roads. A thirty-one mile stretch
between Traverse City and Walloon Lake was especially difficult. The
road was only a sand track on which they averaged a whopping 8 miles an
hour! During the remaining summer, daughter Marcelline remembered
Clarence driving to Petoskey over sand hills on unimproved roads. He
carried a shovel and an axe to cut branches along the way. One can
image his embarrassment when he became so stuck he needed to be pulled
out by a laughing farmer and his team of horses. The return to Oak Park
was much easier with the Hemingways and their car returning via
steamship.

Cottage Life at Windemere

The journey's frustrations were forgotten when the family
finally arrived and threw open the cottage door and windows. As
designed by Grace, Windemere cost $400 to build and was a simple,
functional structure measuring 20 X 40 feet. Facing southwest, it
included a living room dominated by a large brick fireplace and two
window seats that doubled as children's beds. Additionally it had two
small bedrooms and a kitchen complete with a wood burning range and an
iron-handled pump that supplied fresh well water. Oil lamps provided
evening reading light and a piano, music for sing-alongs. White pine
was used on both the interior and exterior where the clapboards were
painted white. The porch was a perfect place to look out at the lake
and to watch the children play. While water for drinking came from the
well, bathing and clothes washing used the cool lake water. An outhouse
was discreetly tucked in a pine grove at the back of the property. The
beach was sandy and the water, a beautiful blue. Birch, cedar, maple,
and beech trees surrounded the lot and tree covered Murphy's Point
provided shelter from the north wind. As the years passed, this point
would be the site of many adventures, picnics and campsites.

As the family grew to include all six children, additions and
improvements were made to the original structure. With the birth of
their third child, Ursula, in 1902, a kitchen wing was added complete
with a screened dining area linking it to the main cottage. A sleeping
annex was built behind the cottage containing three additional bedrooms
and providing more peace and quiet for the parents. Having four
sisters undoubtedly contributed to Ernest's eventual desire to get away
from the annex. After his fifteenth birthday in 1914, he slept on a
cot in a canvas tent pitched close to the back fence. There he kept a
kerosene lamp and a pile of magazines and books that sister Marcelline
remembered him often reading late into the night. Behind the back
property line was the Bacon's Farm. The Bacons were just one of the
local families who became good and valued Hemingway friends. In 1879,
Henry and Elizabeth Bacon homesteaded an eighty-acre farm that gave the
Hemingway children many new experiences. It also supplied the family
with much needed milk, meat, cream and vegetables during the summer.
Indeed, the farm's proximity had been an important factor in the
original land purchase. In return, Dr. Hemingway provided medical
services to the Bacons (and any other locals who were in need) at
little or no cost. So strong were the bonds with the Bacons that the
Hemingway children referred to Henry as "Grandpa Bacon."

Clarence delighted in the physical activities and work
associated with cottage and farm life. On July 13, 1900 - the day
Ernest took his first solo steps - Dr. Hemingway attended a barn
raising at the Bacons where he helped with construction, photographed
the proceedings and was given the honor of driving in the last stake -
something he fondly remembered for years. Marcelline Hemingway Sanford
recalled the improvised trestle tables made of long boards and
sawhorses filled with food for over a hundred people and the cheer that
went up when the final timber was put in place.

Items the Bacon's didn't supply were purchased locally or
were shipped directly from Chicago. Stores such as Crago's Delicatessen
at Walloon Lake Village were a source of provisions and, in
extraordinary circumstances, the family might even travel to Petoskey.
But these trips to town were rare indeed. According to daughter
Madelaine, before each trip north Dr. Hemingway made careful and
elaborate lists of what would be needed for their stay. Staples such as
flour, sugar, slab bacon, chocolate, and spices were ordered from the
Montgomery Ward catalog and delivered to Walloon Lake. Dr. Hemingway
sometimes even ordered special treats for the family. Madelaine
remembered the children delighting in peppermint candy, gingersnap
cookies, and marshmallows.

Wish You Were Here!

Like most families, the Hemingways' cottage life revolved around the water. It
was a source of food and entertainment and at this time of few roads, it connected the
Hemingways to others on the lake and to the outside world.

Dr. Hemingway taught his children to swim and spent much
time in the lake with them. Beginning with postcards made in 1901
showing Ernest and Marcelline paddling along side the family rowboat,
dozens of photographs capture the family splashing and posing. One can
picture the growing family with deeply tanned Dr. Hemingway conducting
swimming lessons while the fair skinned Mrs. Hemingway watched
anxiously from the porch as the family moved to deep water. (She sun
burned easily and disliked the "slimy" lake bottom.) Dr. Hemingway was
very safety conscious and he often conducted lifesaving drills
involving what to do if a boat capsized. Turning them into races, the
children enjoyed the competition while at the same time learning
valuable swimming skills. Over the years, the Hemingways owned several
boats including launches, rowboats, and a canoe that they kept in the
off-season in Windemere's living room protected by a favorite bed
quilt. The rowboats, Marcelline of Windemere and Ursula of Windemere, were well used and loved. In about 1910 Dr. Hemingway purchased the family's first motorboat, an 18-foot launch christened Sunny
(in honor of daughter Madelaine's nickname). It was powered by a Gray
Marine inboard engine that proved to be an ongoing challenge to the
non-mechanical father.

It was also with Dr. Hemingway's guidance that Ernest and his
siblings learned about and developed talents with fishing rods and
reels. Countless photos attest to the family's success at catching
trout, pike, perch, and bass. The Hemingway Collection at Central
Michigan University's Clarke Historical Library is home to a wonderful
letter from Ernie to a friend in 1919 describing the perfect way to
catch trout on a lake. It details how to bait the hooks with skinned
perch, how to position the rods and reels on the boat, and even
describes the screeching sound the reel makes when you get a strike. In
his youthful enthusiasm, he proclaims it "the best rainbow trout
fishing in America."

Hunting and shooting were also a part of the summer
experience. Dr. Hemingway was an excellent shot who knew the importance
of safety and responsible hunting. Marcelline, recalled Dr. Hemingway
enjoying a skeet trap and barrels of clay pigeons shipped from Chicago.
Shooting skeet on the grassy hill behind the cottage soon became a
Sunday afternoon tradition with everyone learning how to shoot. When it
came time to move on to game rather than targets, Clarence insisted
nothing be killed unless it could and would be eaten. This included a
porcupine that Ernest and his friend Harold Sampson shot in retaliation
for quills it left in the Bacon's dog in 1913. It's easy to imagine
the look on the boys' faces when they were reminded of the family rule.
The haunches cooked for hours but years later "Sam" still remembered
that the meat "tasted like a piece of shoe leather." But usually,
hunting brought in more tasty fare.

Like other families then and now, the Hemingways entertained
guests and celebrated special occasions. Frequently family members,
including grandparents, visited them from Oak Park for extended stays.
Holidays like the Fourth of July were celebrated with friends who were
fed with pit barbequed lamb, oven roasted pig, potato salad, and
gallons of lemonade. Friends came from around the lake and as far away
as Boyne City. The evening's highlight was sky-rockets set off at the
lakeside by Dr. Hemingway. The children were allowed Roman candles and
could light the pinwheels the Doctor nailed to the dock's flagpole.

A very special occasion for the Hemingways was the birth of a
new baby in July 1911. Rather than stay at Oak Park that summer, a
very pregnant Grace Hemingway escaped the city heat and made her way to
Windemere. When she went into labor on July 19, Marcelline reported
being sent a half-mile away to Murphy's Point with a sketch pad and
book, Ernest went off fishing, and the younger children were hurried
off to Bacon's farm with a promise that they would be summoned when
they had a new sibling. With a trained nurse assisting Dr. Hemingway, a
beautiful baby girl was born and named "Carol." Beginning the
following year, she and Ernest (whose birthday was July 21) would
annually celebrate with a special tradition of cutting and decorating
the "birthday tree." With great pageantry, a small evergreen was cut
each July, decorated, and placed in a special stand on the dining porch
in celebration of their birthdays.

As anyone who owns a cottage knows, there is always some
work mixed in with the play. The Hemingways began their stays by
removing the winter shutters, opening windows and airing out the
cottage. There were sticks and branches to clear from the yard and
firewood to cut and split for the woodstove and fireplace. Older girls
who either came along from Oak Park or were hired locally for the
summer assisted with housekeeping, cooking and childcare. There surely
was much to do with a family of six children - especially with Dr.
Hemingway's frequent absences to attend to his patients at home.
While many Oak Park formalities were abandoned at Windemere,
Dr. Hemingway insisted others remain. According to son Leicester, the
Doctor demanded that meals remain formal with freshly scrubbed children
wearing proper clothing and exhibiting dignified manners while eating
correctly served food. Chores were assigned and expected to be
performed with both the beach and yard raked daily. Ernest went to
Bacon's farm with Mason jars on a "milk run" for that day's supply. As
the oldest male when Dr. Hemingway was away, an increasing number of
expectations would eventually frustrate Ernest who really longed to
enjoy his friends, books, and summer rather than tending to chore

s.

For the Hemingways work soon extended beyond normal routine
cottage maintenance. In 1905 a forty-acre farm on the opposite shore of
Walloon Lake was being sold for back taxes. Standing on it were an old
house, some sheds, and a nice timber stand. Dr. Hemingway liked the
potential for teaching his family the value of good, honest physical
labor and for securing a food source during the summer months. It was
purchased, named "Longfield Farm," and introduced into the family's
summer routine. The Frank Washburn family agreed to be tenant farmers
with Clarence paying the bills and receiving a third of the crops. The
Hemingways put in long hours planting trees -- black walnut, cherry,
plum, peach and evergreens -- and vegetables. In good years there was
enough surplus produce for the children to go around the lake selling
potatoes, beets, carrots, and peas to other cottage owners and small
resorts. Ernest likely preferred spending time fishing with friends to
planting and digging potatoes, but he accepted his father's desire to
have him help the Washburns and his own family. Understanding his son's
claim to a vacation, Dr. Hemingway contracted work with him. Leicester
explained that this provided Ernest with spending money and at the same
time accomplished the tasks Dr. Hemingway wanted done. In 1917 twenty
additional acres were purchased and Warren Sumner, a local farmer, was
hired to take Washburn's place. Ernest usually slept at the farm in his
tent and worked that summer with Sumner removing the tenant farmhouse,
cutting 20 acres of hay, and building an icehouse that they then
filled with sawdust. During the cold winter, Sumner stocked it with ice
cut and hauled from Walloon Lake. All summer long, chunks of that ice
were brought across the lake to Windemere and kept in an icebox under
the trees until needed to preserve food or cool drinks on hot, muggy
summer days.

As they

grew older, both Marcelline and Ernest spent more
time away from Windemere with friends their own age. This was
especially true in 1917, the summer after their high school graduation.
While Marcelline's attention turned toward Petoskey where she played
viola in the Bay View Orchestra, Ernest became a regular across Walloon
Lake at Horton Bay. Nestled on the shore of Lake Charlevoix (and a
three mile walk from Longfield Farm), the village had a slow pace and a
nice mixture of locals and summer people. Family friends included the
village blacksmith, Jim Dilworth, and his wife, Elizabeth, who ran
Pinehurst, an inn famous locally for its chicken dinners. Ernest often
stayed there and was comfortable eating his suppers and then lounging,
reading day old newspapers. Away from his family, he was free to act as
a typical teenager - trying to impress the girls, hanging out with
buddies, telling exaggerated stories about his fishing exploits and
life back in the city.

While the family would continue to enjoy Walloon summers,
Ernest's experiences there ended in 1921. In all, he spent at least
part of his first twenty-two summers in Michigan. In 1918 World War I
was raging and he only had a few days of fishing with friends before
being called back home to join the Red Cross as an ambulance driver.
Shortly after arriving in Italy he was wounded and spent the rest of
the year in a hospital recovering before sailing back to America in
January. He would head back to northern Michigan in 1919 and 1920 but
spent most of his time away from Windemere living at Horton Bay where
he enjoyed friends whose interest were more in keeping with his. When
he decided to marry in 1921, he did not do so in Oak Park. Instead he
selected Horton Bay where he wed Hadley Richardson, a woman from St.
Louis, Missouri, whom a Horton Bay summer friend had introduced him to
at a Chicago party the year before. The service was held September 3 at
the now demolished Methodist Church and was followed by a two-week
honeymoon at Windemere. It would be the last time he ever stayed there
or visited Michigan for any amount of time.

From Reality to Fiction

All the love went into fishing and the summer. He loved it
more than anything. He had loved digging potatoes with Bill in the
fall, the long trips in the car, fishing in the Bay, reading in the
hammock on hot days, swimming off the dock, playing baseball at
Charlevoix and Petoskey, ... the fishing trips away from the farm, just
lying around. He loved the long summer. It used to be that he felt
sick when the first week of August came and he realized that there were
only four more weeks before the trout season closed...the hills at the
foot of Walloon Lake, storms on the lake coming up in the motorboat,
holding an umbrella over the engine to keep the waves that came in off
the spark plug, pumping out, running the boat in big storms delivering
vegetables around the lake, climbing up, sliding down, the wave
following behind, coming up from the foot of the lake with groceries,
the mail and the Chicago paper under a tarpaulin, sitting on them to
keep them dry, too rough to land, drying out in front of the fire, the
wind in the hemlocks and wet pine needles underfoot when he was
barefoot going for the milk. Getting up at daylight to row across the
lake and hike over the hills after a rain to fish in Hortons Creek...
(Ernest Hemingway, from On Writing, The Nick Adams Stories)

Today, Ernest Hemingway is remembered as a world famous
author, not a young boy tagging along on family vacations. While his
later life and writings focused on extraordinary stories of marlin,
African safaris, and wars, in truth, a good part of him never left the
ordinary experiences of a boy learning about life in northern Michigan.
A firm believer that good writing was based on firsthand experiences,
he began creating stories about the Michigan people and places he knew
and loved when he was still in high school. Those writings grew into
many published short stories based in Michigan and The Torrents of Spring,
a novel set in Petoskey. Sometimes controversial because they too
closely (and unfavorably) suggested actual friends and family, the
stories nonetheless provide readers from around the world amazing
northern Michigan experiences from the comfort of far away easy chairs.
While "Ernie" was a son, brother, and simply a part of a regular family
that called northern Michigan home for part of the year, "Ernest" gave
the world timeless stories that recall the magic "up north" holds for
all of us who spend time there.

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